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USA Today
a day ago
- Sport
- USA Today
CBS Sports sees Michigan football's 2025 as glorious best case, horrible worst case
Not many get it, but CBS Sports' Tom Fornelli apparently does. Michigan football has a favorable schedule in 2025, assuming that it can handle life on the road, with what should be a punishing defense and a resurgent offense. After beating Ohio State and Alabama to close out the 2024 season, the Wolverines could be a hot team this season, which is why Fornelli sees the Wolverines' best-case scenario being an undefeated season in 2025. Best Case 12-0: Bryce Underwood lives up to the hype (and the paycheck) to immediately reinvigorate the program. Nobody blinks when he throws four touchdowns in the opener against New Mexico, but after he throws for 300 and rushes for 100 against Oklahoma a week later, he becomes the story of college football. On the defensive side, the losses aren't felt for long as new studs emerge and the Wolverines roll through the regular season. After beating Ohio State for a fifth straight year, the NCAA issues a formal apology for all that hullabaloo about sign stealing. OK, that's a little facetious, but we'll take it. However, the worst case scenario is a redux of last year, minus the going out in a blaze of glory type of deal that happened last year, rectifying the 7-5 regular-season record. Worst Case 7-5: It turns out Jim Harbaugh was important to the program. Underwood shows flashes but is a true freshman prone to making mistakes. The Wolverines are blown out by Oklahoma and then lose again at Nebraska while Sherrone Moore serves his suspension. More road losses follow against USC and rival Michigan State. Then the regular season ends with a blowout loss to Ohio State, in which the Buckeyes exorcise all the demons. The NCAA then hits the program with a two-year postseason ban. So, which one is likely? We tend to lean closer to the best case over the worst case, but the answer may be somewhere in the middle. Given the home-road-home format of the season, the Wolverines will need to show that they can win away from Ann Arbor -- something they didn't get good at until 2021. There are still some tough games -- like Oklahoma, Nebraska, and USC -- and they're all on the road. Ohio State comes to Ann Arbor this year, and while the Buckeyes are defending national champions, they did lose to Michigan in The Horseshoe, 13-10, a year ago. Thus, 9-3 or 10-2 seem likely, while the maize and blue work to get the younger parts of the team going, especially on the road. But 7-5? That would likely mean every single thing falling apart. Every. Single. Thing.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Where is Texas A&M HC Mike Elko ranked in CBS Sports 2025 Head coach rankings?
With the 2025 college football season less than 100 days away, varous outlets, including CBS Sports have released various head coach rankings to stir the pot and provide plenty of offseason talking points, especially in the SEC. For Texas A&M coach Mike Elko, who enters his second season at the helm, hasn't earned a ton of respect from the national media. After starting 7-1, and ending 1-4 with consecutive losses to Texas and USC in the Las Vegas Bowl, any praise Elko previously received took a tumble, but it's widely agreed upon that he deserves some grace after one season, and based on putting the work in to improve, adding 14 players from the transfer portal while former James Madison defensive coordinator Lyle Hemphill has joined the defensive staff it certainly something to respect. Advertisement This week, CBS Sports writer Tom Fornelli released his Top 68 head coach rankings, placing Mike Elko just outside the Top 25 at No. 29, rising three spots compared to his 2024 ranking. Here's what Fornelli had to say regarding his ranking. "Elko's greatest attribute at Texas A&M last year was that he wasn't Jimbo Fisher. If Jimbo had gone 8-5 while looking mostly outclassed in losses to Notre Dame, South Carolina and Texas, it would've been ugly. But it was only Elko's first season, and we're still in the honeymoon era. I don't say this as a knock because I believe Elko was the right hire for the Aggies. I just think some folks were a little too impressed by wins over mostly mediocre teams." Ranked one spot below South Carolina coach Shane Beamer, the Gamecock's blowout win over the Aggies was the start of Texas A&M's downfall, mainly due to star running back Le'Veon Moss being lost for the rest of the season. Fornelli is right in stating that judging Elko after one season is premature, but the loss to Notre Dame mainly had to due with former starting QB Conner Weigman's shoulder injury, while defensive lapses and quarterback Marcel Reed's lack of experience as a pocket passer led to poor play down the stretch. This is a accurate ranking, both respecting Elko's ability to build a program, while noting the need to get past the eight win barrier and, finally earn a big to the College Football Playoff over the next two seasons. Advertisement Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Cameron on X: @CameronOhnysty. This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: Texas A&M HC Mike Elko ranked 29th in CBS Sports' 2025 coach rankings
USA Today
15-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Spartans listed near bottom of CBS Sports' post-spring Big Ten power rankings
Spartans listed near bottom of CBS Sports' post-spring Big Ten power rankings See where the Spartans landed in CBS Sports' post-spring Big Ten power rankings released earlier this week One of the most Big Ten knowledgeable national college football writers unfortunately has the Spartans as one of the worst teams in the league next year. Tom Fornelli of CBS Sports released his post-spring Big Ten power rankings earlier this week, and it was not good news for the Spartans. Fornelli had Michigan State coming in at No. 15 out of 18 teams in the league in his power rankings. Here's what Fornelli had to say about the Spartans: "A little peek behind the curtain for you all. If I were to break these power rankings into tiers instead of individual slots, everybody from No. 8 USC to Michigan State down here at 15 would be in the same tier. All of these teams have similarities and are a breakthrough player away from leapfrogging plenty of teams. For Michigan State, that player is quarterback Aidan Chiles. The Spartans will go as far as he's capable of taking them." At least Fornelli stated that the gap between Michigan State and USC at No. 8 really isn't that big if he's putting them all in the same tier. But it is still alarming to see the Spartans this low in the Big Ten power rankings, especially, with this being such an important year for Michigan State in its efforts to get things back on track in football. Michigan State opens the 2025 season in a home non-conference matchup against Western Michigan on August 30. Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on X @RobertBondy5.
USA Today
30-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
CBS Sports doesn't think highly of Michigan football entering 2025
CBS Sports doesn't think highly of Michigan football entering 2025 There were few teams last year in college football that had a stronger finish than Michigan football. The Wolverines won their last three games including against eventual national champion Ohio State and against an Alabama team many thought deserved to be in the College Football Playoff. Yet, even with an intact, returning defense, revamped offense, and amenable schedule (opponent-wise), some have little faith. You can count CBS Sports' Tom Fornelli among the doubters. Last week, Fornelli predicted each Big Ten team's wins and losses and despite the finish last year, he has the maize and blue losing four games. Wins: New Mexico, Central Michigan, Wisconsin, Washington, at Michigan State, Purdue, at Northwestern, at MarylandLosses: at Oklahoma, at Nebraska, at USC, Ohio State Analysis: Last year, I gave Michigan the benefit of the doubt coming off a national title. This year, I'm not. The wins over Ohio State and Alabama to end the season papered over some of the team's significant problems, and all the key players from that title team are gone now. Maybe Bryce Underwood is the Prince Who Was Promised right away, but I expect some growing pains. Pick: Under 8.5 (+148) Michigan won eight (out of 13) games last year, despite having an offense that was essentially incapable of scoring, against a much more difficult schedule. Is it possible that the Wolverines will lose the four games mentioned? Sure. Especially with three of them being on the road. Oklahoma and Nebraska have been particularly aggressive in the transfer portal and have good quarterbacks, while USC is a bit of a question mark. Ohio State has fielded incredible teams and yet has lost to Michigan in the past four seasons. Our thought is that Michigan is more likely to win 10 games -- especially considering that it finished last year beating two teams no one thought it could beat. Especially considering the Alabama game, where most of the productive players do return (unlike Fornelli's assumption), there's really nowhere to go but up.
USA Today
25-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
CBS Sports picks Iowa football's 2025-26 win total with some rather curious reasoning
CBS Sports picks Iowa football's 2025-26 win total with some rather curious reasoning Kickoff of the 2025-26 college football season is still an eternity away in today's landscape. Spring ball has yet to get into full swing, and there is still another transfer portal window for teams to operate in. In other words, a lot could change by the time August rolls around. One team that has somewhat of a facelift entering this season is the Iowa Hawkeyes. They have replenished positions with young guys getting a shot and infused talent into the roster via the transfer portal. How that new talent and those new additions mesh together is a story that only time will tell, but one that we can begin to take educated guesses on. CBS Sports looked at Iowa next year and analyzed their 2025-26 win total, which is set at 7.5 wins, and came to their answer with some curious, to say the least, reasoning. Tom Fornelli of CBS Sports is taking Iowa to not just finish under the 7.5 win total, but to not even hit the .500 mark as he has them finishing 5-7. Iowa Over/under 7.5 wins Wins: Albany, UMass, Indiana, Minnesota, Michigan StateLosses: at Iowa State, at Rutgers, at Wisconsin, Penn State, Oregon, at USC, at Nebraska Analysis: I didn't plan on coming in this low on Iowa, but here we are. It's not just about the quarterback situation. Iowa has been trending in the wrong direction along the lines of scrimmage in recent seasons. When you combine the questions with a schedule that isn't overly friendly, I think this projection is rather reasonable. Pick: Under 7.5 (-170) - Tom Fornelli, CBS Sports Taking under 7.5 wins is fair and something anyone has every right to do. The reasoning, though, needs to be sound to make that conclusion, and it may not be bulletproof here. Iowa exploded offensively last year, rushing for 197.2 yards per game. During the 2023-24 season, they ran for just 115.9 yards per game, and during the 2022-23 season, they mustered up just 94.8 rushing yards per game. Iowa has not just gotten better on the offensive line of scrimmage; they have doubled their output from two years ago. On defense, Iowa is returning Max Llewellyn, Ethan Hurkett, and Aaron Graves. The trio has 26 career sacks to lead the way up front. Iowa allowed 115.3 rushing yards per game last year. During 2023-24, Iowa allowed 111.8 rushing yards per game, and during 2022-23, they gave up 101.3 rushing yards per game. This line of scrimmage has stayed stout over the years as well. Taking under 7.5 wins is a fair play for the Iowa Hawkeyes in 2025, but if data and statistics can show us anything, that won't be due to a regression along the line of scrimmage. Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes, and opinions. Follow Riley on X: @rileydonald7
